The typical disc drive in a computer has at least one disc that stores information. Referring to FIG. 1, a disc 100 is shown that has an associated actuator 110. At the distal end of actuator 110 is a head 120. The information is written and read in tracks, such as but not limited to the circular track 130, by head 120. The disc drive then must be able to follow each data track to read and write the information. To assist in such data track follow, servo information is written on each data track at intervals. The servo information is used by the disc drive to, among other things, keep the head aligned with the desired data track. The servo information is typically written prior to writing information to the disc.
Due to the structure of the disc drive, the head azimuth usually has a non-zero azimuth angle with respect to the data track where the servo information is written. This is known as skew. Also due to that structure, the skew changes as the head moves between the inner diameter (ID) and outer diameter (OD). At some point between the ID and OD, the head skew transitions between positive and negative.
There is a long felt need to improve both the effectiveness and the efficiency with which these processes can be practiced. The embodiments of the present invention are directed to that need.